Improved steam-engine condensing-apfarattts



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Letters .Patent No. 94,403, dated August 31, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same. I

Z'o all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, ConNeLIUs H. DE LAMATER, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements ,in Aix-Pumps and Condensers for Low- Pressu're Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My invention consists in a novel arrangement and construction of an air-pum p and condenser, adaptable to all varieties of condel)sing-engines, and having for its main object the production and maintenance of a moreperfect vacuum than is attainable by the means in ordinary use, together with compactness of form, facility of construction, economy of material, and operative power, and accessibility to all the workingparts, as will be more fully explained by the annexed drawings and description, forming part of this specification.

In the construction of the arrangement shown in the annexed drawings, I use a rectangular hollow casting, which forms the foundation for the outer main pillow-block of the engine, and which is divided by suitable partitions across its length, into three nearly equal compartments, forming, respectively, the condenser proper, the valve-chamber, and the hot-well.

` The air-pump is attached to the valve-chamber at one side of the main body of the casting, and in the middle of its length, fitting into a socket of suitable dimensions, and being secured by bolts and flanges, as seen in the drawing, referring to` which- Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of the' airpump, and its connections, showing also a front elevation of the condenser-casting, the interior compartments of which are seen in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is'a transverse section, taken vertically through the centre of air-pump valves and valve-.

chamber, showing Vthe interior construction and ar rangement ofthe various parts and passages. It also shows an elevation ofthe shaft, pillow-block, and crank, as arranged for opera-ting the air-pump.

Like letters of reference indicate the same parts in both views.

A isfthe main shaft of the engine.

a a, the crank-pin, operating the air-pump by the connecting-rod L.

Bis the pillow-block, resting on and attached to the condenser-casting, which forms its foundation.`

J is the air-pump, which, though not essentially so, is in this case fitted with trunk-pist011, K, to allow of being arranged to work nearer the main shaft A.

This air-pump piston, whether of the trunk7 construction orotherwise, is, to all intents, a solid fplungcr7 or piston, in its mode of action. It is not intended to pump the injection and condensed vapors through it, as in the usual construction of air-pump buckets,

- as it is provided with only one small valve opening pump.

upward, as seen at s, g. 2, the precise use of which will be given below. The size ofthe valve s is not essential, however, and it 'will answer equally well if made of considerable dimensions.

M, to the left of iig. 1, is the condenser proper, or condensing-chamber. It is a rectangular space, the whole width of the casting, and extending about onethird of its length, as before stated.- It communicates with the valve-chambcr O by a shallow passage, c, at the bottom, and below the lowestvalve, commonly known as the foot-valve, as seen at G, and receives the exhaust and injection-pipes D and E, near its upper portion.

The valve-chamber O occupies the central position in the condenser-casting. In it are fitted the inlet (1) and outlet (2) valves, or foot-valve and delivery-valve, as sometimes called. These valves are directly over each other, the space N between them being in co1nmiinicatio'n with the upper and open end of the air- These valves are here shown as constructed of rubber, and with the usual grates and guards The valve-chamber O communicates with the condenser, below the lower valve, with the air-pump, by the space N between the valves, and finally with the hot well above the upper valve, by the passage or opening Y.

I prefer to construct the air-pump J with `a close bottom, below the piston K, but I can, and may occasionally, use the pipe R, to form a communication with the condenser from the space below the air-pump piston K, in special cases explained below.

Having described the construction of iny'improved air-pump and condenser, I will explain its operation.

Steam, being admittedto the condensing-chamber M by the exhaust-pipe D, will be met and condensed by the jet of cold water, entering .by the injection-nozzle E. The water of condensation and injection falling to the bottom of the condensi11g-chamber M, will flow through the passage c, entering the valve-chamber O, below the lower valve l.

The air-pump piston K, being set in motion downward, will expel the air beneath it through the small valve s, (the bottom of the air-pump being closed, it has no other ontlet,) and onits return stroke upward, will drive the air through the upper valve 2, and, at the same time, will produce -a vacuum, more or less perfect, below the air-pump piston. The next stroke downward will produce a vacuum above the air-pump piston, and in thc space N between `the valves, inducing the water in the condensing-chamber to How through the passage c and the lower valve 1, into the open end of the air-pump, by thel space N.` The succeeding stroke upward` will coinpletely'fill with water the space N, and expel through the upper valve 2 the air and uncondensed vapor, before discharging any water. In the mean time, a small amountof water having leaked past the air-pump piston into the vacuous lspace beneath it, will, as the air-pump pistou again nears the bottom, illall the'vacant space included in the clearance between the piston and the bottom of the air-pump, all the included air and the surplus water finding vent through the small valve s, when the lowest point of the stroke is reached.A

It will readily bepseen, that when in ope-ration the air-pump piston is at all times covered with water, by the water from the space N owing back into the airpump at each down stroke,.and as all the space below the piston of the air-pump, when at the bottom, is iilled with the same inelastic fluid, the up stroke' must produce below the piston the most perfect vacuum consistent with the temperature of the water, and as the spaceabove the piston, np to and ovei'l the outletvalve, is full of dense water at the termination ot' the up stroke, the same .perfect vacuum obtained below the piston, by submerged space development in dense water, is, by the same means and under like conditions, obtained above the piston in the/,space N, and consequently in the condensingohamber, when the piston moves downward.

It lwill also be seen, that as the upper edge ofthe air-pump stands above the lower valve l, a stratum of water is always retained over and interposed between this valve and any vapors which might collect or be .present in the space N.

, The upper valve 2 is also constantly covered with water, as lthere is a dam provided for this purpose 'by apart of the partition V, at the lower part of the opening into the hot-well, beingr raised above the. valve 2, so as always to retain waterl over it.

` lt will thus be readily understood that the. upper and lower valves, and also the air-pum p piston are at all times perfectly water-packed, as a stratum of water is always over them; and, as the pressure on the scribed.

valves and on the air-pump piston is downward, it will also be seen that as all the air and vapor is expelled before the. water, no elastic vapors can'remain or col-v lect in the air-pump or valve-chamber between the lvalves, to diminish the vacuum by their expansive action.

No shock to the air-pump piston occurs in expelling the surplus water from beneath the air-pump piston, through the small valve s, as the quantity of water to be expelled is very small, being only the amount leaking at each stroke, and its expulsion takes place only at the very end ofthe stroke, when'the piston is coming to a state of rest, and consequently' moving slow.`

The pipeR, establishing a connection between the under side of thc air-pump piston and the condenser, is intended for use occasionally. lVhen the air-pump piston is very1eaky,o1 in case, the valve s by any means gets'fast, or becomes inoperative, its use merely establishes the same vacuum'on the lower side ofthe air-pump piston as that obtained in'tlie condensingchamber, but the vacuum obtained by this means is not so` perfect as by the mode of operation first de- Any water accumulating in the pipe It is carrie-d up by the current of steam flowing through the pipe l), and thus trzmserred into the condenser.

Having described the construction and operation of my improvements, l will state what I claim asnew, and desire to secure b v Letters Patent, as follows:

The construction and arrangement of the valves 1 and 2', in relation to the piston K.,`comlenser M, hotwell (l), and chamber N, aslhcrein set forth.

ln testimony whereof, l have hereunto set my name, in presence oi" two subscribing witnesses.

CORNELIUS H. DE LLAMATER.

Witnesses:

JoHN-O. STEVENS, A. K. RIDER. 

